The present invention is directed generally to an improved mixer for fluent and nonfluent material and to an improved method of mixing material within a mixer tank. More specifically, the present invention is directed to an improved mixer wherein material is mixed by a large rotor within a main chamber of a tank and then moved over a ridge into a lower portion of an auxiliary chamber wherein the material is axially converged toward a generally centrally located discharge opening. When the opening is closed, the material is piled upwardly into an upper portion of the auxiliary chamber and advanced toward an end wall for spillage back into the main chamber and for downward movement back to the lower portion of the auxiliary chamber.
In the cattle industry, there is a recent trend back to the farmer feeder. In such operations, the cattle are fed a greater proportion of roughage such as hay and silage and a less proportion of grain. Furthermore, in large cattle operations, a farmer may have to mix and distribute as many as forty or fifty tank loads of feed per day. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved mixer capable of quickly and efficiently mixing and discharging large quantities of hay, silage and/or grain.
Feed mixers generally are known in the art. Copeland et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,090,605, in which inventor Neier herein was a co-inventor, disclosed a mixer capable of efficient end-to-end mixing. That mixer included an arrangement of upper and lower augers for moving material in opposite directions. That mixer was not suited for handling roughage such as long stringy hay, however, since the hay would become wedged between the lower auger and the downwardly and inwardly tapering side walls of the main chamber.
Crose U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,640 disclosed another mixer wherein a combination auger with rotor paddles was rotatably supported in a main chamber with a single discharge auger in a side chamber. A problem of this arrangement is the lack of end-to-end mixing. For example, if additives are poured into the tank at the downstream end of the main auger, no mixing of the additive with the material at the upstream end of the tank will occur. Furthermore, the Crose mixer is limited to the handling of fluent materials. The wall between the main and side chambers is so low that material is thrown laterally with substantial force. If hay were to be handled, it would be poked into the discharge auger by the rotors causing a binding action and potential damage.
A mixer designed to handle hay was disclosed in Walley U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,289. A rotor in a main chamber mixes the material and feeds it to a single rotating agitator in a side discharge chamber. Whereas this mixer is capable of handling hay, it has limiting mixing capabilities and virtually no end-to-end mixing action.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved material mixer.
A more specific object is to provide a feed mixer capable of handling hay and roughage without binding action of the material therein.
Another object is to provide such a mixer with efficient end-to-end mixing capability.
Another object is to provide a mixer wherein material is mixed in a main chamber by a plurality of rotating rotor bars and wherein material is cycled through an auxiliary chamber wherein the material is advanced from end-to-end in opposite directions.
Another object is to provide a mixer wherein material is continuously cycled between the main and auxiliary chambers thereof and back and forth from end-to-end prior to discharge.
Another object is to provide an improved mixer capable of cleaning and discharging substantially all of the material from the main chamber.
Another object is to provide an improved mixer which is simple and rugged in construction, economical to manufacture and efficient in operation.